What Is Saimin? Hawaiʻi’s Noodle Soup and Where to Eat It

Saimin is a noodle soup made in Hawaiʻi and eaten at counters from Wahiawā to Kalihi. Zippy’s, which sells it across Oahu, puts it this way on its own Saimin Says page: “Saimin is a noodle dish that is unique to Hawaii and was created during the sugar and pineapple plantation era.”

The name is usually traced to two Chinese words, sai (thin) and min (noodle), according to HAWAIʻI Magazine. Hidehito Uki, president and CEO of Sun Noodle, told the magazine in 2019: “There is no saimin in Japan or China. This is truly a Hawaiʻi product.” The traditional Hawaiian food guide and our local Hawaiian snacks list cover the other island staples that sit beside it.

HAWAIʻI Magazine describes the noodles as curly, darker than ramen noodles and slightly chewy, and the broth as a hot dashi usually made from shrimp, mushrooms, ginger and konbu (dried kelp). Classic toppings are char siu (sweet roast pork), Spam, scrambled egg, green onions and kamaboko (fish cake). Newer shops add wonton, bok choy, bean sprouts or daikon.

Each counter writes its own version. Palace Saimin lists “traditional curly noodles in our dashi broth,” garnished with green onions and char siu. Zippy’s serves its bowl with a piece of uzumaki fish cake, sweet char siu, egg and choi sum. Wonton min is saimin with pork-filled wontons added, and Palace marks it “Locals’ Favorite” on its menu. A skewer of barbecue or teriyaki beef on the side is the usual add-on: HAWAIʻI Magazine lists it as the common side, and Palace sells tri-tip BBQ sticks at $4.00 each.

Both are wheat-noodle soups, and the difference is in the noodle, the broth and the attitude.

• Noodles. Uki told HAWAIʻI Magazine that saimin shares ramen’s base ingredients (wheat flour, sodium and potassium carbonate, and salt), but the saimin noodle is curlier and darker.
• Broth. Writing about Shige’s in 2015, the magazine said the dashi “isn’t rich like the collagen-laden broth at local ramen shops or overly salty.”
• Attitude. Zippy’s calls saimin “ramen’s less trendy, more authentic cousin.” Chef Mark “Gooch” Noguchi, on the same page, puts it more bluntly: ramen is the trendy one, saimin is life.

The common story is a plantation one. HAWAIʻI Magazine dates it to the late 1800s, when workers from different ethnic camps shared ingredients at meals, and Zippy’s says the dish was created in the sugar and pineapple plantation era. That account is hard to pin to a date, so here is what the printed record shows.

The earliest Honolulu newspaper mention we found is in the Sunday Advertiser of July 19, 1908, in a column on a Saturday night when sailors were in port: “In Chinatown the sailors invaded the restaurants and learned to eat saimin and other tasty Oriental dishes.” It was already a dish a newspaper expected readers to know. Our Chinatown guide covers the neighborhood today.

Seven years later the Honolulu Star-Bulletin of December 13, 1915 told of two young Japanese women who were driven from Aala Park by a police officer “simply because they were selling” saimin, under an ordinance about a month old that barred peddlers from the park. They left the mayor a letter signed H. Nakamura: “We want to sell saimin or Japanese soup at Aala park.” Saimin was a street food sold by Japanese vendors in Honolulu by then.

A 2019 paper by Midori Hino in Chinese Dietary Culture says saimin has been popular in Hawaiʻi for more than 100 years, began among Asian immigrant laborers on sugar plantations, and carries a Cantonese-sounding name but has been sold by Japanese as well as Chinese vendors. Residents, she concludes, now see it as local comfort food and care little about its ethnic origins. The SABR Baseball Parks Project adds that its popularity “increased broadly after it became the specialty fast food at Honolulu Stadium.”

Fast food took it further. McDonald’s restaurants in Hawaiʻi sold saimin until June 2022, when Hawaii News Now reported the item was discontinued because Okahara Saimin, its supplier of about 40 years, had closed.

These five showed as open on Google Maps on October 25, 2026, and each has hours and a price from the operator’s own page or a dated news report. They are not ranked 1 to 5, because they answer different needs, and each is labelled with the one it wins on. Prices are as posted, before tax, and can change.

The cards are numbered for reference, not ranked. Each has a Google Map beside it, except Zippy’s, which has restaurants across the island. The notes come from the operators’ own pages and the news stories linked in them.

1 · Noodles made that morning

Shige’s Saimin Stand

Ross and JoAnn Shigeoka opened Shige’s in Wahiawā on March 31, 1990, as Hawaii News Now reported in June 2026. Tuesday through Saturday they start at 5:30 a.m. and make the noodles fresh, which Ross puts at “roughly 3 to 4 hours.” JoAnn told the station, “Making noodles is a workout.” Ross’s grandparents, Fujimatsu and Yoshie Nakai, opened Nakai Saimin Stand in Haleʻiwa in the 1950s. HAWAIʻI Magazine reported in 2015 that the stand opened with saimin and barbecue beef sticks and quoted Ross: “To me, saimin is the ultimate comfort food.” Hawaii News Now and the stand’s Google listing both give Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., closed Sunday and Monday. We found no current price list on an operator page, so we print no price. Wahiawā is also home to Dole Plantation.

70 Kukui St, Wahiawā, HI 96786

View on Google Maps

WahiawāTue to Sat, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.Opened 1990

2 · The 1946 counter

Palace Saimin

Kame Ige, who emigrated from Okinawa in 1924, opened Palace in Kalihi in 1946 and named it for the Palace Theater down the street (its story page), and the house dashi is the same recipe today. The menu lists saimin at $7.00 small, $8.00 large and $9.00 X-large, wonton min from $9.25 and $4.00 tri-tip BBQ sticks (menu, read October 25; prices subject to change). It is open Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and closed Sunday and Monday (its contact page). There is a free lot next door. Call (808) 841-9983.

1256 N King St, Kalihi, Honolulu, HI 96817

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KalihiTue to Fri, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.Closed Sun and Mon

3 · The widest menu

Shiro’s Saimin Haven

Franz Shiro Matsuo opened Shiro’s in 1969, and its history page says the menu now carries 64 saimin creations, including the Dodonpa, built with 10 garnishes. The homepage says the noodles “are made fresh daily” and are “never frozen, dehydrated, or imported.” The March 2026 takeout menu lists a small saimin at $5.85, a medium at $7.65, the “Big Brah” large at $9.65 and wun tun min at $10.15, plus 4.712% state excise tax; the Dodonpa is $20.85. The Waimalu restaurant is open daily, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., with last seating at 8:45 (hours); call (808) 488-8824. A second Shiro’s is at 91-919 Fort Weaver Road in ʻEwa Beach.

98-020 Kamehameha Hwy, Waimalu, ʻAiea, HI 96701

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ʻAieaDaily, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.Opened 1969

4 · Saimin from 7 a.m.

Forty Niner Restaurant

Richard Kiyoshi Chagami, a 442nd Regimental Combat Team veteran, started the Forty Niner in 1947, and the Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation notes he served saimin among local favorites. Its site lists Monday to Saturday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. The online ordering menu lists a small saimin at $6.50, a large at $8.55, a Big Boy at $10.95 and an oxtail saimin at $21.95, with a teri beef side at $5.95; online prices can differ from the counter. The Waikīkī Forty Niner at 445 Seaside Avenue lists no saimin on its online menu, so this is the ʻAiea restaurant to visit. Call (808) 484-1940.

98-110 Honomanu St, ʻAiea, HI 96701

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ʻAieaMon to Sat, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.Opened 1947

5 · The easiest to find

Zippy’s

Zippy’s sells saimin at its restaurants around the island, and its own Saimin Says page backs the dish. The Oahu menu lists a regular at $5.90, a large at $7.45, a keiki bowl at $5.55 and wun tun min at $12.25, with “uzumaki fish cake, sweet char siu pork, egg, and choi sum” on the plain bowl. Prices may vary by location, and hours do too, so check the locations page. Zippy’s marks 60 years in 2026 (its anniversary page).

Restaurants across Oahu; see the Zippy’s locations page

View on Google Maps

IslandwideHours vary by locationRegular $5.90

The planning is mostly hours and which bowl to start with.

• Start with a small. Small bowls are $5.85 at Shiro’s (takeout menu), $5.90 at Zippy’s, $6.50 at the Forty Niner and $7.00 at Palace.
• Add wontons or a stick. Palace’s wonton min starts at $9.25 and its BBQ sticks are $4.00; Shiro’s wun tun min is $10.15 on the takeout menu; the Forty Niner lists a teri beef side at $5.95.
• Sunday and Monday are the hard days. Palace is closed both, and so is Shige’s.
• Call about prices. Palace’s menu says “Menu items and prices may vary,” and Zippy’s says prices vary by location. Palace charges 25 cents for each takeout container.
• Plan the drive. Wahiawā, Kalihi and ʻAiea are all easier by car; see renting a car on Oahu. The two ʻAiea counters are in Pearl Harbor’s neighborhood, so they pair with a Pearl Harbor visit.
• Compare the price with other meals. The cost of food in Hawaii guide puts these bowls next to plate lunches and restaurant meals.
• Want more than saimin? The Oahu food tour guide routes a day of local food by area, and the best food on Oahu lists the island’s other standouts.
• Beyond Oahu. On Kauaʻi, the James Beard Foundation’s archive calls Hamura Saimin Stand in Līhuʻe “one of the oldest and most famous saimin shops in Hawaii.”